A Bountiful Thanksgiving

The children have been talking about this trip for weeks.  Thanksgiving is a highlight of their year.  It is our tradition to gather with my husband’s family — his mama, daddy and grandma, his 5 siblings, their spouses and the horde of grandchildren (20 thus far).  My boys love, love, love this precious time with their cousins.  And for the first time this year, my girls, who are 3 and 2, began to interact with their relative without shyness.

This year, we had the family gathering at Rita and Jeff’s new house.  The kids explored their 15 acre wooded property, played on a big sand hill, and as evening fell, played hide-and-seek.  My favorite part of the whole day is when Uncle Barry brought out his guitar and began strumming.  Lincoln ran up to me and asked if he could get his violin out of the truck.  When he came back with his violin case, many of the relatives crowded around him asking questions.  My quiet, soft-spoken boy, who often goes unnoticed, stood a little straighter.  He answered their questions and then with easy confidence, he set the violin between jaw and shoulder and played his piece with complete focus.  This is even more amazing when you realize that he had a crowd gathered tightly around him.  But he didn’t lose concentration once.

On Friday, we spent the whole day with Sid’s brother Knocker, his wife Laura and their kids.  Our children are very close in age and my kids particularly love a day spent at Aunt Laurie’s.  The bountiful supply of food that Laura keeps on the table plays a big part in their enjoyment of the day, I’m sure.